A variety of packers are used in wellbores to isolate specific wellbore regions. A packer is delivered downhole on a tubing string and a packer sealing element is expanded against the surrounding wellbore wall to isolate a region of the wellbore. Often, two or more packers can be used to isolate several regions in a variety of well related applications, including production applications, service applications and testing applications.
Some packers are constructed as inflatable packers that can be selectively inflated to form a seal in a wellbore. Inflatable packers generally are constructed on cylindrical mandrels by forming an inflatable bladder over a corresponding cylindrical mandrel to create a cylindrical bladder. The bladder is connected to metallic extremities and can be surrounded by additional layers. Inflation of the bladder causes expansion of the inflatable packer. However, the cylindrical, inflatable bladder either has a limited expansion ratio or requires use of materials that enable a greater expansion ratio. Materials that allow the greater expansion ratio can be susceptible to high temperatures, aggressive downhole fluids, and other factors that detrimentally affect the function and longevity of the packer.